


Need a little help

by L_I_N_Z



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: AU, AU Cannon, Alternet Universe, Multi, No Smut, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 11:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_I_N_Z/pseuds/L_I_N_Z
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lori died in labor, Rick is in distress, and finds a new romance. Beth is the carer, Daryl is the provider, and Rick is the finder</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Days gone by

Daryl heard the scream of the four day old baby as he walked into Ricks apartment next to Rick who had his head in his hands.  
"Rick?" He asked walking in. The smell stung, he was trying to take care him ever since Lori had the baby, and passed away. He had been out looking for Carl, he didn't have any luck. He picked up the child and rocked her slowly.  
"Hey 'lil ass kicker." He said cooing. He looked at Rick who was sitting expressionless with a bottle of vodka in his hands.  
"Hey." He said to Rick. Rick didn't answer.  
"I couldn't find Carl, but Beth is still out looking with Maggie, and Glenn."  
Rick still didn't respond.  
"We'll find him though." He added.  
Rick just sat there staring into space. Daryl picked up the empty bottles with his free hand, the other holding lil ass kicker. He put them on the counter.  
"You smell." He told the little baby. The child laughed slightly. He changed the diaper roughly. He heard the door open.  
"Hey." He heard Beth say  
The door closed.  
"I brought us some food."  
She walked over towards Daryl.  
"Any luck?" He asked.  
"Maggie's still out looking, we'll find him."  
She smiled hopefully.  
"How's he doing?" She asked.  
"Still not responding to anything I say."  
Beth walked over to Rick.  
"Hey, I got you some dinner." No answer  
"It's a burger."  
No answer.  
She handed it to him.  
He took it, and stared at it.  
She walked back over to Daryl and took the baby in her arms.  
"Have we come up with a name yet?" She asked.  
"Naw, I've been callin her lil ass kicker." Daryl responded  
"I like that." Beth laughed.  
Daryl took a bite of the burger Beth got him. The baby started crying.  
"She's hungry." Beth said  
"I'll fix her a bottle."  
Daryl said walking towards the small bag of formula and a bottle Beth bought earlier that week. He remembered when they found out. Lori had gone into labor, and Rick called them into the hospital. Apparently there had been miscommunication about her C-section, and she had died on the table. Luckily the baby got out alive. He remembered having to tell Carl, and Carl running out of the hospital, Maggie chasing after him, but being held back by Rick  
"Wait, just... Leave him." He told her.  
They still hadn't found Carl, and it had been four days.  
He remembered bringing Rick back who was a mess crying, then drinking. The thing was he didn't even care that Carl was gone, maybe he didn't realize. Those four days had been hell. Beth watching over the baby, Rick drinking, Daryl looking for Carl when he didn't have work, working, and taking care of the child.  
His phone buzzed, he looked to see a text from Maggie  
'No luck, we'll find him tomorrow.' She said.  
They could only hope. Maggie always said that.  
"Any luck?" Asked Beth.  
He nodded his head 'no'  
Beth sighed.  
"We'll find him." Beth said  
Daryl sighed "I guess."  
"We will!" Beth argued.  
"What are you doin?" Rick said. Beth and Daryl's heads shot back.  
"Huh?"  
Asked Beth  
"What are you doin?" Rick asked again.  
"Eatin burgers." Beth said.  
"You think I can't take care of myself?!?" Rick yelled suddenly.  
"No..." Beth answered nervously.  
"We just thought you'd like to have some help, you know with the baby and all..." Beth said as calm as she could be, she seemed very timed around Rick.  
"I can handle it!" Rick said walking toward Beth. Daryl stepped closer to him as Beth stepped back.  
"I can take care of a child. I didn't loose my mind I lost my wife!" He yelled grabbing Beth's arm.  
"Hey." Daryl said pulled back Rick.  
"Who the hell do you think you are?!?" Rick yelled getting out of Daryl's grasp.  
"Hey, hey, hey... It's okay..." Daryl told him.  
"No! No! You don't get to do this!" Rick said grabbing Daryl's shirt.  
"Rick... Calm down." Beth told him.  
"No... No! You can't tell me what the fuck to do! We're in my house! You don't fucking tell me what the fuck to do!" Rick yelled hitting Beth slapping the face. Daryl lunged at him, and knocked him to the ground. He could hear Beth's cries. Daryl continued to punch Rick over and over again.  
"Daryl!" Beth yelled in protest.  
Rick fought back, but Daryl had him pinned to the ground. Rick rolled over onto Daryl, punching him this time.  
He heard the young baby crying, it echoed in the room.  
He also heard Beth's cries  
"Stop! Rick stop!" He felt her grab him arm, as he shoved her away. The baby's cries continued, and Beth started to cry as well. Daryl became weak, and wasn't fighting back as hard. Beth was trying to calm down the little baby girl, even though she wasn't calm herself.  
Every punch he threw hurt him as well, he was getting tired. And then it happened  
"Dad?!?" He heard a young boy say. Carl ran over trying to pull Rick away. Rick obaide starting to cry in the young child's, who was bringing him the the couch. Beth ran over to the bleeding Daryl. She sobbed next to him, holding the now silent baby.  
It had been an hour. Daryl and Rick both had frozen vegetables that they were holding on their faces. Beth had explained to Carl what had happened while he was away, and what happened during the fight. She didn't lie at all. She told him every detail. Carl was angry at his father, Beth could tell.  
"He hit you?" Carl asked her.  
"Yeah." She answered softly, her voice was horse from crying.  
"I don't understand why he did that." He said.  
"He was angry." She told him.  
"I know it doesn't make a lot of since, and I get that you're angry, but you need to be there for him... He needs you."  
She told the young boy.  
"Have we named it?" Carl asked after a few minutes of silence.  
"Not yet." Beth told him  
"Daryl's callin him lil ass kicker." She laughed  
"That's a good name." Carl laughed.  
"I think you should name it." Rick said speaking up.  
"What about... Judith?" Carl asked.  
"I like that, I like Judith." Rick said.  
"Yeah!" Beth smiled  
"I'm still gonna call 'em lil ass kicker."  
Daryl laughed.  
Later that night Carl and Daryl were sleeping. Beth was holding the sleeping Judith in his arms. Rick was sitting next to her.  
"I'm sorry." Rick said to her putting his hand on her shoulder.  
"It's alright." She said brushing alway some stray hairs.  
"No, it's not." He said  
"I forgive you." She smiled.  
Rick leaned in slowly towards Beth. They staired into each others eyes. Beth smiled at him. Rick was about to kiss her when the small baby cried.  
Both of their attention went to the small baby in her arms.  
She rocked her back and forth.  
"You wanna hold her?" she asked  
"No... I'm not ready, not yet." He said. Beth just smiled  
"I've gotta go, I'm tired." She smiled  
"Night."  
"Night."


	2. Rick joins in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to heat up between the three of them

Beth had put the young baby Judith to bed, and was heading towards the mattress that she had been sleeping on when she heard a small sniffle from the room next to hers. She slowly walked towards it to see Carl angrily crying in bed. She thought that she should go comfort the young boy, but that could just make things worse. She went back to her room and started writing in the small green book that was always in her pocket. She hadn't written since this had happened. She pressed her lips together. She didn't know what to write. All she could think of was the past. It was funny, how she had met Lori, Rick, and Carl. She was looking for a job as a babysitter and her older sister Maggie knew the Grimes family, and had told them about her. Beth was now 18, and living by herself ever since her father had passed away. She used to live on the farm with her sister, father, and mother. But once her father died they sold the farm, and went their separate ways. Maggie married Glenn who's best men were Rick, and Daryl. Beth got to know Rick being Carl's nanny, and they became friends. She also was friends with Lori. They all hung out together, Lori, Maggie, Glenn, Rick, and Daryl, at the bar near Ricks flat or at a coffeehouse, that she was now working at. As much as she loved the grimes they didn't pay her enough as a nanny for her to have her own flat in Atlanta. She was working double shifts at the Atlanta Coffee Shop, and she was also working at a day care on the weekends, plus singing as much as possible at any coffee shop, or bar that wanted singers. She remembered the last conversation she had with Lori before she died. They were in the coffee shop, Beth was cleaning up, and Lori was finishing her chai tea latte.   
"Are you scared about having the baby?"  
Beth asked cleaning one of the tables off.  
"Not really, it scared me at first, sure. But I've already had Carl and that worked out fine. I'm just a worried about taking care of two kids" She laughed.   
"I'll help out, if you want. I miss takin care of Carl, and I love baby's." Beth smiled.  
"Thanks, Beth... I'll need that."   
She remembered hearing that Lori had gone into labor, and their had been an accident.   
She ran into the hospital to find Daryl, Carl, Maggie, and Rick all sitting nervously together.   
When the heard she felt a panic sink in. Maggie broke down, which was understandable. Maggie and Lori had become very close. She also watched as Rick fell apart.  
"No, no, no..." He cried looking at Carl.   
Carl didn't cry, she noticed that. She remembered Carl running out after Daryl explained what had happened. She remembered helping them retuning Rick back to the flat. Buying formula, and cloths for the young child, that she was not ready to care for.   
She began to cry. Then she thought some words to herself.   
"We don't get to be upset. We've all got jobs to do."   
\-   
Daryl sat on his mattress staring at her cellphone. He has received a text from Merl. It had been almost two years since Merl was sent to prison, and he was finally out.   
The text was small, but meant a lot to him.   
'Dads locked up for good, killed somebody and got caught, Andrea is pregnant again, it ain't mine, I'm gonna be the daddy, come visit.'  
Daryl scoffed and set the phone down.   
Merl and Andrea got together young, he scored out of his league, but Andrea was crazy. Andrea had Merls baby once, then Merl went to prison the kid must've been four years old now. Daryl left not long after she was born. He only held her once. He left home because his father had gotten out of jail again, and he didn't want to see him ever again.  
He still remembered his father beating him and Merl.   
He hoped Merl wouldn't be the same when he found out Andrea was pregnant. But as far as he could tell from Instagram, phone calls, and Facebook, he was a great father, besides the trips to prison.   
He felt sorry for Rick.   
He wouldn't leave him, not yet. He would help him raise this child, him and Beth both would. He felt terribly for Beth. She was only 18, and was becoming a mother of two children. He was older, and didn't have anything else to do with his life... Beth's life was just starting. He knew she wouldn't ever leave the four of them though. Him, Rick, Lil Ass Kicker, and Carl.   
-  
The next morning Rick woke up to the smell of cooking bacon. He walked towards the kitchen to see Beth who was carrying the small child, cooking bacon, singing, and feeding Judith her bottle. He stayed watching her sing while dancing Judith back and fourth   
"And we'll pine beer to shotgun we'll lay in the lawn, and we'll be good. Now I'm laughin at my boredom."  
Rick coughed and she stopped.   
"Sorry, how are you doing all of that at once?" He asked   
"I'm a woman, I can multitask." She laughed   
"How are you feeling?" She asked looking at his back eye.  
"Better."  
Daryl wondered into the kitchen.  
"Thought I smelt bacon." He said.  
"Mornin." Beth greeted him.  
"Morning." Rick said  
"Good Morning." Daryl smiled walking toward Beth and the child. He swiftly took the child in his arms. Rick studied them realizing that they had taken care of this child for four days while he sat drinking.   
He realized how much the cared.   
"Breakfast is ready!" Beth announced. Carl ran into the kitchen, grabbed four pieces of bacon, and a pancake, then headed back to him room.   
Rick, Beth, and Daryl sat together eating in silence. They heard the sounds of Carl's video games as they ate.   
"I wanted to thank you two, for takin care of her while I was... You know..."  
"It's okay." Beth responded.  
"I got news from my brother, he's out of prison, his girlfriend is pregnant with a kid that aint his, but he's gonna take care of it, and she's almost due... And my dad is in prison for good this time."  
Beth smiled softly.   
"You gonna visit?"   
"I probably should, once it comes... Or I might just send flowers."  
"You should go."   
Beth told him.   
-  
She headed towards her room after putting Judith down for a nap. She turned on her laptop, went onto photo booth, and started recording.  
"Hey, I'm Beth... This is my first time doin this so be nice.   
I'm going to do a cover of the parting glass, enjoy."  
She sang the song, edited as well as she could, and then hit the poster button.   
She hadn't felt so nervous in her life. But she knew what she wanted, and it wasn't working at a coffee shop for the rest of her life. She wanted to sing.   
-  
Daryl stared at Rick.  
"I think that I made a mistake." He told him.   
"How?"  
"I should've stayed, and helped Andrea with the kid, he probably wouldn't have cheated if I was there to help her."  
"That's not your fault, it's just like Lori and Shane, it wasn't either of our faults."   
"Does Shane know?" Asked Daryl.  
"Yeah, I'm sure he does... Still working at the police office, probably found out why I haven't been at work."  
Rick told Daryl.   
Daryl rested his hand on Ricks shoulder.   
"I'm sorry."   
-  
Beth and Daryl sat together on the couch that night. It was probably 2:00am, neither of them could sleep. Beth stared at her phone.   
"This is crazy." She said   
"What is?"  
"I posted a video of me singing, it already has 5000 views."  
"Really?!?" Daryl asked  
"That's great!"  
Beth smiled   
"I didn't think anyone would see it." She said.  
"Why did you do it?"  
Daryl asked   
"I don't know, just wanted to... Thought it would help.  
"I'm proud of you, Beth." Daryl told her.   
She didn't even remember how it happened, but she remembered them kissing on the couch. She remembered laying down on it with him on top of her, sloppy, and sweet kisses down each others necks. He pulled off her yellow shirt, and she began unbuttoning his shirt when he stopped kissing her tensely and pulled himself up.  
"What is it?" She asked.  
"I don't want you to see." He told her.  
Beth closed her eyes. She knew that he had been abused as a child, she hadn't thought of it.  
"Daryl, it's alright... We've all got our scars, and we can all get through it. You've seen mine." She told him motioning to her wrists.  
"I promise I won't think anything differently of you."  
She told him. He smiled.   
Then they continued kissing. It wasn't long before they were both in their underwear, Daryl was pulling off Beth's lacy panties when he heard a cough. Both of their heads jolted back, It was Rick.   
"Rick... I..." Beth began pulling her shirt back on.  
"Can I join?"


	3. Daryl goes away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter was a little hard to write, so it's pretty short! Thanks for reading!!!

They all avoided eye contact the whole breakfast.  
Beth bounced the baby in her lap, Rick munched on a pice of bacon, and Daryl stared at his phone.  
Carl was in his room playing video games.  
Beth looked over at Daryl's phone.  
"Is that your brother?" She asked.  
Daryl nodded. Rick stood up to get another piece of bacon.   
"What are you talkin about?" Beth asked.  
"He's tryin to convince me to visit him Andrea and Michonne."   
"Who's Michonne?" Rick asked.  
"Michonne is their daughter."  
Daryl said  
"You gonna visit?"  
Beth asleep  
"Naw, don't wanna go back there."  
Daryl said.  
Beth nodded understanding.  
Beth bounced Judith in her lap again.  
Judith cooed.  
They age in silence for another 10 minutes.  
"Guys, I think we should talk about last night." Beth finally said   
"No!" Rick and Daryl both groaned.  
"What? Why no??? We need to talk!" Beth argued.  
"No, we didn't need to... Now we need to because you said something about it."  
Daryl told her. Rick nodded.  
"Okay fine! We don't have to talk about it."   
Beth said throwing her hands in the air.  
"No, it would be weird if we didn't talk about it now that you said something." Rick angrily protested   
"So, that was weird? Right?" Beth laughed.  
Rick and Daryl starred at her   
"Sorry, I don't know how these things work." Beth sighed.  
"So, what are we?" Daryl asked reluctantly  
"Like a couple?" He added  
"Can there be threesome couples." Beth asked suspiciously  
"Well there can be threesome relationships, I wouldn't call them couples." Rick said  
"Do we want to be?" Beth asked.  
Nobody answered.  
"I don't know guys, I have feelings for both of you." Rick said.  
"So do I." Beth smiled.  
Daryl sighed.  
"I guess i do too." He said.  
"Do you?" Rick asked eyebrows raised.  
"Yeah, shit, I don't know, never felt like this before."   
Daryl answered  
"Well do you have romantic feelings for me?" Beth asked  
"Yeah..." Daryl answered blushing.  
"And do you have romantic feelings for Rick?" Beth asked  
"Mhm." Daryl answered, he was as red as a tomato.  
"There you go then." Rick laughed.  
"But whatta 'bout Lori? Isn't it too soon?" Daryl asked  
"No, we weren't working great together anyway, besides... I can't morn her forever." Rick said.   
"Okay, so what do we do?" Beth asked   
"I don't know actually." Rick laughed   
"Yeah, me neither." Daryl giggled.  
"I thought you know everything." Beth said   
"Most things, not this." Daryl said.  
Beth bounced Judith in her lap.  
"Everyone done?" She asked  
Everyone nodded, and Beth stood up, put Judith on her hip, and picked up the dirty plates.  
"No, no, Beth... You cooked breakfast, you're taking care of my baby, and you've been shopping enough... I've got the dishes." Rick said   
"Okay." Beth smiled.  
Daryl tapped on his phone for a long time, whilst Beth played with Daryl. Then all of a sudden Daryl jumped up, and put his phone to his ear.  
"What the fuck do you mean? Well what happened?"  
Beth looked at his shocked as he ran out of the apparent.  
Rick put a plate in the sink.  
"What the hell was that about?" He asked  
Beth shrugged.  
Hey waited about ten minutes before Beth decided to call Daryl.   
"Hey." She said   
"What's wrong? You left in a hurry." She laughed worriedly   
"What? How.... Well, no I understand, you sure you should go? Okay... Do you want us to go with you... Are you sure? What about Maggie or Glenn? No? Okay... Drive safe... Okay... Bye..." She hung up the phone, and put her hand to her mouth.  
Rick ran over to her.  
"What happened?"   
"What was that about? Is everything okay?" He asked.  
"No, Its his dad, he isn't in prison anymore."   
Beth told Rick   
"Well where is he?"  
"He got released, he didn't kill that girl apparently, or at least they don't think he did... I don't know."  
"And he's going back to where his dad is?"  
"Yeah, he has to take care of his brother and Andrea, he had to make sure Merl doesn't do anything stupid... Because merl can't go back to prison since he's gonna has a kid again." She explained.  
"He doesn't want anyone to go with him?" Rick asked  
"No, he thinks it will be better if we stay." Beth told him.  
He was panicking.  
"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Rick told her pulling her into a hug.  
"He's gonna be okay." Rick said again.   
Then Beth stood up in her tiptoes, and kissed Rick.  
"We're all gonna be okay." Rick smiled.


	4. Blood is blood

Daryl drove as fast as he could. He was so panicked.  
Andrea had called him, and he could tell something was up.  
He knew that me would kill his father if he ever came near his grandchildren, or Andrea again.  
Although Merl was turning into a regular, suburban father he knew that seeing their father would trigger something.  
He turned on the radio to try and calm his nerves.  
"There is a new star among us named Beth, she posted a cover of the parting glass on YouTube yesterday, and it already have more then ten million views!" The presenter said.  
"Should we play it?" asked another.  
"Yes I think we should."  
Hearing Beth's voice on the radio warmed Daryl's heart.  
He knew he should congratulate her being on the radio, but not yet. He still had merl on his mind.  
-  
He jumped out of his jeep, and ran toward the blue house where we gave him the address of.  
He ran to the door in a hurry, knocking down a bike as he ran.  
He knocked on the door  
"Andrea it's me!" He yelled.  
"Uncle Daryl!" He heard a young voice yell.  
"Michonne!" He laughed picking the little girl up.  
He saw a very, very pregnant Andrea walking towards him.  
"Daryl." She said walking towards him.  
Daryl put the young child down.  
"Where is he?" He asked.  
"God knows, at the bar most likely, I would go but..." She paused.  
"I'll go get him, don't worry." Daryl said grabbing Andreas hand.  
"Thank you." She smiled  
"Hey, he's my brother." He reminded her before walking toward the front door.  
-  
Merl was sitting at the far end of the bar, drinking a bear.  
"Merl!" Daryl said.  
"Hey, little brother!" Merl laughed  
"You heard about daddy then?"  
"Andrea called me, she's worried about you... Let's get you home." Daryl said offering his drunk brother a hand.  
"Naw, stay lets talk about dad... Get yourself a drink." Merl said waving the bar tender over.  
"No... Merl we need to go home." Daryl told him.  
As they drove towards the house they were silent.  
"So you came runnin right when my wife asked, but you wouldn't barely return my texts?" Asked merl scoffing.  
"It ain't like that, I didn't want to come back here... But when I heard about dad, and your baby... I don't want you to make any mistakes, with the baby and that." Daryl returned.  
"Yeah, well ima kill him if he comes near my family." Merl told Daryl.  
"Why don't ya'll get out of here? Why can't you just move somewhere else?" Daryl asked.  
"I don't want daddy to be controlling my life." Merl answered.  
They drove more.  
"So, you gotta girlfriend or somthin?" Merl asked  
"Kinda, it's complicated." Daryl said.  
"What do you mean?"  
Daryl didn't answer  
"Are you gay?" Merl asked shocked  
"No, it's... I'm not sure... Like I told you, it's complicated." Daryl said, looking at the road.  
"You can tell me 'lil brother, I won't judge... I'm not like that anymore. Is it a boy? Or a girl?"  
Daryl closed his eyes in hesitation.  
"Both."  
Merl snickered.  
"Like a threesome?"  
"Yes merl, like a threesome."  
Daryl said  
"Like a threesome relationship?"  
"Mhm."  
"I didn't even know that was a thing." Merl laughed  
"Yeah, well... It is." Daryl answered.  
"My, my... Who are they?"  
"You met one of them." Daryl answered.  
"Who is it?"  
"Rick." Daryl told him.  
"Officer friendly?" Merl asked.  
"Yup."  
"And the other one?"  
Daryl waited a minute to answer.  
"Wait, is it that real little one?" Merl asked shocked.  
Daryl nodded  
"How? She's like twelve! And tines. Her daddy ain't gonna be happy." Joked merl  
"He dads dead." Daryl snapped.  
"How do you know Beth anyway?" He added  
"We're friends on Instagram." Merl answered handing his phone to Daryl once they were at a red light.  
Daryl studied the phone.  
He saw a picture of Beth holding Judith smiling.  
"Is the kid yours?" Asked merl.  
"No... It's ricks, but it ain't Beth's." Daryl returned  
Merl laughed  
"This is the most complicated thing I've ever heard."  
He said  
"Yeah... It's pretty complicated." Daryl agreed.  
"So who's the baby's mother?"  
"Lori. She used to be friends with Andrea I think... But she didn't make it. That's how we got together... Like I said it's complicated."  
They reached the house, and interned to see sitting on the couch Andrea, Mishonne, and their father.


	5. Our boy is alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it's been so long!!! Hope this chapter is to your liking, I did write it with EXTREEM jet lag, so don't judge... Sorry it's short but... This is what you get! See you soon!!!

Daryl couldn't believe his eyes. He hadn't seen his father in years. He was confused, why was her here? Why was he back? Why was he sitting on a coach with Andrea and his grandchildren.  
He watched as Merl walked towards the man, eyes blazing with rage.  
"What are you doin here?" He asked him a threatening tone to his voice.  
"What? Father can't see his own son, and grandchildren?" Merl knocked over a chair in rage.  
"What are you doing near my family?!?" He yelled. Their father stood up toughly to match the height of Merl.   
Andrea let out a gasp, and Michonne curled into her mothers lap.   
Their father turned around.  
"And if it isn't Mrs Darlina? how are you son? Haven't seen you in a while? Still sleepin with all the boys?" He asked him, a horrible sound to his voice that made Daryl shatter. Merl growled at his father "don't speak to him like that." He warned.   
Their father pushed Merl back.  
Daryl went to the couch where Andrea and Michonne were sitting in, crying.   
"Andrea, you need to go... You need to go now." He told her.  
Andrea shook her head.  
"I can't leave him..."  
"There's no point, you need to protect Michonne." He helped them stand, and led them towards the door.  
"Where do we go?" Andrea asked. Daryl heard yelling coming from the sitting room.  
"I'll text you an address... It's the friends that I'm staying with... It's a tight space, but it's safe." He told her. Andrea hugged him, before leaving the house.  
Daryl made a mental note to text her the address soon.   
He walked into the fist fight going on in the living room.  
He walked over towards them, he didn't want to have to physically fight, he wanted to talk... But that wasn't going to happen. His father seemed to have gotten weaker, or Merl had gotten stronger. Either way, merl was kicking the shit out of there father.  
"You just gonna stand there and watch? Or you gonna help me little brother?" Asked Merl in between punches.   
He walked towards his father, to draw a punch, but was instantly hit by his father.   
He staggered back. This was too much like before. This was too much like when he was a child, too much like after merl left. He felt the flashbacks dwell on him.   
How his father used to belt him. How he'd beg for him to stop. All those times he'd gone to school saying his broken arm was from falling down the stairs.   
He suddenly felt the back of his neck heat up. He fell backwards, and he saw merl fighting his father, but he didn't realize he was there. It was like he was watching from a movie projector. He felt his breathing quicken.   
The walls of the room were suddenly too tight.   
He needed Beth, he needed Rick... He needed them to make it better.   
He felt like he was drifting.   
He starred blankly at the fight taking place. It still seemed like he wasn't there. It still seemed like he was somewhere else.  
He kept hyperventilating, and he couldn't focus on his surroundings anymore.  
He felt tears fall from his eyes, and he felt punches.   
Somebody was hurting him.   
There was yelling, and blood. He didn't know what was going on.  
"Sir, is he alright?" Somebody asked. He couldn't see anything. Everything was still.   
His mind was still foggy, but he thought of Rick, and Beth.  
The beautiful man, and the pretty girl.   
Suddenly he jerked awake.  
He wasn't in Merls house anymore. The room was white, and there was a beeping noise. He suddenly saw Beth and Rick looking down at him.  
"He's awake!" Beth smiled.   
He fluttered his eyes.  
"Where am I?" He asked  
"Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta." Rick answered.  
Daryl felt very awake now.  
"What... What about merl... And my dad?" He asked.  
"Don't worry about that now, the police have it under control. Guess what officer is leading the case?" Rick answered   
"Who?" Daryl questioned.  
Beth smiled  
"Officer Shane fucking Walsh."   
Rick and Daryl both laughed. Beth rarely swore.  
"He's going to make sure your father pays... He promised us." Beth said.  
Daryl looked confused.  
"How long have I been out?"   
Beth pressed her lips together  
"Three days."   
Daryl widened his eyes.  
"How...?"   
"You got punched pretty hard, fell on the mantel and hit your head... Lucky you don't have a bad concussion." Rick told him.   
"Head 'don't hurt." Daryl stated.  
"You're on as many pain killers as they're legally aloud to give you."   
Daryl smiled before something hit him, he didn't text Andrea.  
"Andrea and Michonne are at the house, she had my Instagram, asked me if it was okay to stay there... She's with the kids too..." Beth told him. He relaxed. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten something so stupid. He yawned.   
"You should probably go back to sleep, you hungry?" Rick asked. Daryl nodded no.   
Beth and Rick both planted kisses on him, before he drifted into a warm sleep.  
Beth moved away from him, and looked at Rick.  
He smiled at her.  
"Our boys okay."   
Rick smiled  
"Our boys okay." He agreed.  
Beth grabbed her jean jacket from the chair it was sitting on.  
"I should probably go to the police station... To talk about the scars." She stated.  
Rick kissed her lightly on the cheek.  
"Be safe."   
"Thanks, see you in a little bit!!!" She smiled before hurrying out of the hospital.   
Rick sat to himself, and watched Daryl sleep. He loved this man so fucking much, he couldn't even.


	6. Hospital beds

Going to the police station to talk about Daryl's past was harder then Beth could ever imagine. Daryl was a good, tough man. But Daryl did have his Demond's, and sitting in a room hearing the police talk about them wasn't something she was prepared for.   
She closed her eyes as they handed her pictures of a familiar back with gashes all along it.   
"Ms Greene, do you know these wounds?" Asked Shane. She nodded her head.  
"I've seen them before."   
She answered, chewing on her thumb.   
"Had Daryl ever said anything about the lashes?" Another cop asked.   
"He didn't too much... But he finally told us about them."   
Shane raised his eyebrow.  
"Us?" He asked.   
Beth bit her upper lip, she wasn't still used to the whole relationship.  
"Me, and Rick Grimes." She said, looking away shyly. She hadn't really told anyone about their relationship yet. The officer scribbled something on his paper.   
"And what is Ricks relationship with Daryl?" Asked Shane.  
Beth's blush deepened as she looked at him.   
"We're all together…" she answered, almost questioning herself.   
"Like a threesome. But with feelings." She added.   
The cops expressions changed abruptly as Beth blushed.  
"Really?!? Rick?!?" Asked Shane.  
Beth felt bad, Rick used to work here and some day he might return. Now everybody knew about his dirty secret.   
"Let's just stick with the questions." The other cop offered.   
"Thank you." Beth smiled.  
"So he finally told y'all about the scars?"  
"Yeah, I mean he didn't say too much but he said his father did it." She answered.  
"And when he left to see his father?" He asked  
"Yes... He just kinda ran out of the apartment after talking with his brother, said his dad wasn't in prison. He was just going to make sure Merle didn't do anything crazy... Guess he ran into his father."  
After that the officers asked her all sorts of questions, and two hours later she was finally done with the interview.   
She went back to the hospital, and greeted Daryl, and Rick.   
Daryl was sleeping, but had his hand in ricks, who was in a chair opposite from him.  
"How was it?" Rick asked. Beth shrugged.  
"Hard."  
She looked at Rick, who had circles under his eyes.  
"You should go home, and get some rest... Spend time with Carl and Judith." She told him.  
Rick yawned, and looked at the sleeping Daryl.  
"Your probably right... It's been a while since I've seen them."  
Beth smiled at him and kissed him. Their romance was new, but it seemed like it had been going on for a long time.  
He stood up from the chair, and unlocked his hand from Daryl's. He kissed the man on the forehead before exiting.  
Beth sat in the seat, and watched Daryl sleep.   
After the busyness of the day it was nice to relax. But hearing the heart monitor beep was almost too much for her. She was so worried when Andrea had shown up, and getting the call from the hospital. She was so worried that he got shot or something. Over the phone the officers wouldn't tell her what happened. As Rick drove she almost felt sick.   
Then when they got there and found out Daryl was in a coma she could've died there.   
Her young sweet boyfriend had bled out on a mantel.  
She broke into tears knowing that wasn't the first time his father had hurt him. The tears rushed down her face because she'd seen those scars, purple and blue lining his back, and abdomen.  
She knew the pain that he went through. She wished she could've made it all better, for both of her boys. None of them had it easy, they all had their demons. They all had their scars. She had one right across her wrist.   
She let out a light sob.   
She remembered slitting her wrist in her childhood home.   
She remembered the blood flowing down her arm, and Maggie bursting in, and her daddy stitching her up.   
She remembered apologizing to Maggie as soon as she'd done it. It was such a stupid thing for her to do. If she'd died then then she'd never had met Rick and Daryl. They would never had fallen in love.   
She tried to keep her sobs as quiet as possible, so she wouldn't disturb Daryl, but she failed.   
"Beth?" She heard a warm voice ask. She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her shirt.  
"Yeah... Sorry..."   
"You alright?" His voice was tender, and worried.  
She nodded, even though it was dark and he couldn't see her.  
"Yeah... I'm just sad, that's all." She answered.  
"Why?" He asked curiously.  
"I could've lost you." She revealed.  
"No... That wasn't going to happen." Daryl told her, outstretching his arm, and taking her hand.  
"I'm just so glad you're safe." She smiled.  
"I'm so glad to be back... And I can't wait to be out of this damn hospital."   
She stood up, and kissed him. He moved over on the bed.  
"Come here." He told her.   
"You sure?"  
"Yeah."  
She climbed in bed next to him, and they fell asleep holding each other.


End file.
